Coconut-Chocolate Icebox Cake with Toasted Almonds

I've been dreaming about developing an icebox cake featuring the flavors of chocolate, coconut, and almond since cowriting Icebox Cakes. The Pecan Refrigerator Cake recipe from Best Cake Recipes (1929) influenced my version here. The original calls for ladyfingers layered with uncooked eggs (!) and sugar, but I chose to use chocolate wafer cookies and coconut whipped cream, made from coconut milk instead. If you have leftover whipped cream, you may use it to frost the outside of the cake, as in the picture. Although, truth be told, I prefer the cake “naked,” with the layers visible for all to see.

Preparation

Place the cans of coconut milk in the coldest spot in your refrigerator upside-down and leave them there for 24 hours. This will allow the coconut cream in the milk to solidify and separate from the liquid.

Line a 9-by-5-by-3-in [23-by-12-by-7.5-cm] loaf pan with plastic wrap that hangs slightly over the sides of the pan.

Flip the cans of coconut milk right-side up, open the cans, and, using a rubber spatula, carefully scrape the solid coconut cream into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Save the liquid for another purpose. Add the almond extract and confectioners' sugar, and whisk on medium speed until smooth and thick. Add the heavy cream and whisk on medium-high speed until the cream holds stiff peaks, about 2 minutes. Add the toasted coconut and fold it into the cream with a rubber spatula.

Using a small offset spatula or the back of a spoon, spread a thin layer of the whipped cream on the bottom of the lined pan. Cover as much of the cream as possible with a layer of wafers, filling any gaps with broken wafers, to create a solid layer of wafers.

Continue layering whipped cream and wafers until you run out or reach the top of the pan, ending with a layer of wafers. Gently cover the surface with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 to 8 hours, or preferably overnight. If you have whipped cream left over, store this in the refrigerator along with the cake.

Remove the cake from the refrigerator prior to serving and peel off the plastic wrap. Place a serving plate over the pan and invert the cake onto the plate. Carefully remove the pan and plastic wrap lining and, if using, thinly spread the remaining whipped cream over the sides and top of the cake. Re-whip the cream if it looks too soft to spread. Sprinkle the cake with the toasted almonds, lightly pressing them into the cake.

Using a serrated knife, cut the cake into slices and serve. The cake will keep, lightly wrapped with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Note

When buying coconut milk, gently turn the can up and down in the store to make sure the contents sound full and solid. If it sounds watery and seems like the can is filled only with liquid, grab a different one.

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Reviews

I made this for Easter last year and again this year. My husband loves the recipe on the box of the chocolate wafer cookies with cool whip (yuck) so I try to elevate that a bit. This one was good but it’s tricky. Some cans of coconut milk have lots of solids and some do not. I found that the A Taste of Thai had lots of solids compared to the Goya can yesterday. But maybe it’s random. Shaking the can to try to find a heavier one or one you can feel some solids in would be best.
The almond flavoring and sliced almonds are good with this.

so..this sounded so wonderful . The truth is, coconut milk (or the cream) especially when cold, never gets smooth and silky. And, as I whipped it on high (the can was drained of all liquid) trying to achieve that silkiness, more liquid was extracted and flung high and low all over my kitchen. So I finished making it, and I'm just really disappointed at the chunky texture of the cream, the coconut sort of hides it, but this is a one and done for me. I'm going to come back and see if anyone has a better experience.